Pile-up assembly fixture



Aug. 7, 1962 H. w. SCHAUFELBERGER 3,047,941

FILE-UP ASSEMBLY FIXTURE Filed May 23, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 H. w. SCHAUFELBERGER 3,047,941

FILE-UP ASSEMBLY FIXTURE Aug. 7, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 23, 1960 A 1962 H. w SCHAUFELBERGER 3,047,941

FILE-UP ASSEMBLY FIXTURE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 25, 1960 United States Patent 3,047,641 PHLE-U? ASSEMBLY FUTURE Henry W. fichaufelberger, Union, NJ, assignor to West em Electric (Jompany, Incorporated, New York, N35 a corporation of New York Filed May 23, 1960, Ser. No. 30,806 10 Claims. (Cl. 29-263) This invention relates to pile-up assembly fixtures, particularly fixtures for feeding insulators in the assembly of electrical articles.

Numerous electrical articles, such as switches or keys, employed in the telephone industry requiring a supporting frame and numerous contact elements insulated from the frame and from each other, have been assembled by hand. Furthermore, the contact elements as well as the insulators vary in size and/ or contour and are' designated for particular positions in the assembly. It has been determined that the time required for assembling electrical units of this type may be shortened considerably if a plurality of like units areassembled simultaneously and the insulators arranged for simultaneous addition to their portions of the assemblies.

An object of the present invention is a highly eificient assembly fixture for feeding insulators of different sizes selectively to the articles being assembled.

According to the object of the invention, the pile-up assembly fixture includes a holder mounted at a fixed position for receiving insulators of different sizes and parts of an article to be assembled, the insulators being disposed in separate hoppers according to the sizes of the insulators, and means actuable to move the hoppers to selectively align one of the hoppers with a loading station where a feeding unit will receive it and transfer it to the holder.

In the present instance, a plurality of aligned holders are provided with pairs of pins to receive the parts which are placed on the pins manually and to simultaneously receive from the feeding units of the fixture, insulators of predetermined sizes. Like articles or electrical units are formed or assembled in the fixture and for this reason, either thin or thick insulators will be fed to the pins of the holders so that the assemblies will be identical. The hoppers are mounted in grooves of parallel supporting bars and adjusted simultaneously from one position to another depending upon whether thin or thick insulators are desired for the next step in the assembly of the numerous electrical units. The fixture also has a support for the frame of each electrical unit and an overall clamp for simultaneously clamping all of the frames in position.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the assembly fixture, portions thereof being broken away;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the assembly fixture, portions thereof being broken away;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged end elevational view of the assembly fixture, portions thereof being shown in section;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a portion of one of the feeding units;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of one of the holders with the pins therein illustrating one of the feeding units in open position;

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of a portion of one of the feeding units in closed position;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a portion of the fixture illustrating one of the feeding units in its forward or feeding position;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary elevational view of a portion of the fixture illustrating movement of the hoppers with respect to the loading station; and

FIG 9 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of 3,047,941 Patented Aug. 7, 1962 one of the holders after the completion of the assembly of the parts and insulators.

The assembly fixture includes a frame having a base 10 on which outer vertical members 11 and 12 and inner vertical members 14 and 15 are mounted. A horizontal member or table 16 supported by the vertical members has a plurality of like holders 17 mounted at spaced positions thereon. The holders 17 have recesses 18 in their upper surfaces to receive a first part 19 of an article, indicated generally at 20, to be assembled at each holder. The part 1d has threaded apertures 21 to eventually receive screws 22 to secure the pile-ups in assembly. Apertures 2 3 in each holder 17 are spaced according to the spacing of the apertures 21 and are adapted to receive reduced lower ends 24 of pins 25. The main or upper portions of the pins 25 are equal in diameter to dielectric sleeves 26 which are disposed on the reduced ends 24 and, in assembly, are to extend through apertures in conductive parts 28, apertures in thin insulators 29, thick insulators 3d, and a top plate 31.

The pins 25 have reduced ball-shaped ends 33 to readily enter the apertures of any of the parts and particularly the insulators 29 and 30. In the assembly, the article has a frame 34 with a reduced portion 35 having apertures similarly positioned according to the spacing of the apertures in the parts 28 and the insulators 29 and 30 to be located over the pins and in the desired location in the pile-up over the insulating sleeves 26.

A pair of hoppers 37 is provided for each holder 17. Each pair of hoppers 37 includes a substantially I-shaped member 38 with side walls 39 and 46 providing separate hoppers 41 and 42 for respectively receiving stacks of thin insulators 29 and thick insulators 30. The pairs of hop pers 37 are mounted in notches 44 and 45 of parallel rods 46 and 4'7 which extend through suitable bushings 48 disposed in apertures of the vertical members 11 and 12. The rods 46 and 47 are normally urged to the right (FIGS. 1 and 2) by a spring 50 disposed concentric with the rod 46 and disposed between the inner surface of the vertical member 11 and a collar 51 mounted on the rod 46.

Companion members 52 and 53 are disposed concentric with the rod 46, the member 52 being fixed at 54 to the vertical member 11 while the vertical member 53 is free to rotate on the rod 46 and held in position thereon by a collar 55. A handle 56 is provided for assisting in the rotation of the member 53 between the positions shown in FIGS. 2 and 8. The adjacent surfaces 57 and 58 of the members 52 and 53 are such that when, in the relative position shown in FIG. 2, the spring 50 will move the rods to the right to locate the hoppers 42 with the thick insulators 30 in the loading stations, and when the member 53 is moved into the position shown in FIG. 8, the rods with the hoppers will be moved to the left against the force of the spring 56 to locate the hoppers 41 in the loading stations.

A carriage 60, mounted in a horizontal plane beneath the hoppers 37, is mounted on spaced slides 61 of the cross-sectional contour shown in FIG. 2. The slides 61 have lower horizontal portions 62 which are positioned to slide in guides 63 mounted on the upper ends of the vertical members 14- and 15. Upper portions of the slides 61 have recesses 64 therein to receive racks 65, the racks being fixedly mounted in the recesses by suitable means such as screws, not shown. In FIG. 3, the slides 61 are shown secured to the carriage 60 by screws 66, only one of which is shown.

Gear segments 63, fixedly mounted on a shaft 69, in terengage their respective racks 65 and are urged clockwise normally (FIG. 3) by a spring 70 having one end fixed at 71 and the other end connected to a pin '72 of a lever 73 which is fixedly mounted on the shaft 69. The shaft 69 may be rotated between given limits to move the 9 carriage 60 between a loading position and a feeding position by the aid of a hand lever 74 mounted on the shaft 69 and having a handle 75.

A feeding unit '77 is provided for each pair of hoppers 37. As the feeding units 77 are identical in structure, the description of one will apply to all. The carriage 60 has its forward portion cut away to receive each feeding unit. Each cut-away portion includes a groove 79 in the undersurface of the carriage in which reduced portion 86) of the feeding unit is located and secured in place by a plurality of screws, only one of which is shown at 81 in FIG. 4. The feeding unit has a central member 82 disposed in a hollow portion $3 and urged forwardly into its normal position by a spring 8 1. The spring 84 normally holds a pin 85, carried by the central member 82 and extending downwardly through an elongate aperture 86 and connected to an element 87, against the forward extremity of the aperture (56. The element 87 has an elongate aperture 89 through which the screw S1 extends to movably support the element. A downwardly bent portion 99 of the element 57 is positioned to be engaged by a stop 91, mounted in a bracket 92, which is secured at 93 to the vertical members 14 and 15 (FIG. 2) and extends the length of the carriage 61 to support the stops 91 in the paths of the portions 90 of all the elements 87. The purpose of the stops 91 is to stop the forward movement of the central member 82 of each feeding unit to cause freeing of the insulators when the feeding units are in the feeding positions.

Each feeding unit has supporting fingers 94 positioned beneath parallel guides 95 and pivoted at 96. Springs 9'7, engaging the inner ends of the fingers 94, normally urge the fingers about their pivots into holding positions as shown in FIG. 6. When in this position, projections or cams 98, carried by and extending laterally from the central member 82, engage the fingers 94 so that inner portions 99 thereof will cooperate in supporting the outer end of each insulator, while a central portion 1% of the inner member 82 will support the inner end of each insulator. An intermediate member Hi1 serves in coopcrating with the parallel guides 95 in locating the insulators singly on the supporting portions 99 and 1130. Prior to each feeding unit 77 reaching the end of its feeding stroke, the portion 99 (FIG. 4) of the element 87, engages the stop 91 to stop forward movement of the central member 82, causing it to move the fingers 94 outwardly about their pivots to cause simultaneous movement of the fingers, that is, the portions 99 thereof, free of the insulator supported thereby as the intermediate member 101 moves the insulator free of the central portion 1W. At that time, the insulator Will be aligned with the pins 25 and be allowed to drop on the pins with the apertures in the insulator aligned with the pins.

The fixture is provided with holding means for the frames 34 of the articles 213 when it is time for the frames to be mounted in the assembly. This includes a table 1% supported by the vertical members 11, 12, 14, and 15 and having its upper surface located to support the frames. A hold-down bar 194 having a resilient strip 105, such as rubber or neoprene, is supported by a pair of L-shaped levers 1% having aligned pivots 1117 and normally urged upwardly by spring-pressed pins 198. The hold-down bar 104 is positioned normally upwardly away from the table 103 to permit free loading of the frames 34 on the pins 25 and when the frames are in position on the table, means may be actuated to move the bar downwardly about its pivot 107 into the position shown in FIG. 3. This means includes a pair of levers 199 mounted on aligned pivots 11d and having members 111 pivotally connected at 112 thereto intermediate the ends of the levers. The upper ends of the members have internally threaded apertures 114 for receiving threaded ends of rods 115 which have heads 116 on the upper ends thereof.

The rods 115 are disposed in hollow members 117 together with springs 118, the springs serving as cushioning connections between the rods and the hollow members. The upper ends of the hollow members are pivotally connected at 119 to the levers 196. An actuating lever 120, mounted on one end of a cam shaft 121 having cams 122 mounted thereon in position to engage surfaces 123 of the levers 199, will operate the levers 1119 simultaneously to move and lock the bar 194 downwardly in the position shown in FIG. 3.

Operation Let it be assumed that all of the hoppers 4 1 are loaded with thin insulators 29 and the hoppers 32 are loaded with thick insulators 31B and that all of the pins 25 of the various holders 17 are provided with their dielectric sleeves 26 and have their reduced ends 24- extending through the threaded apertures of the metal members 19 positioned in the recesses 1d of the holders 17. At this time, with the hoppers in the position shown in FIG. 2, that is, the hoppers 42 located at the loading stations and the carriage dd with the feeding unit 77 will receive a thick insulator 313 from its hopper. This insulator will rest on the portions 99 and 10d of each feeding unit and will be moved forwardly simultaneously during actuation of the hand lever 74-75 into the position shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3. During the feeding motion, the upper surface of the carriage 6d closes the lower ends of the hoppers.

As the feeding units reach the end of their feeding stroke, the central portion 82 of each unit, assisted by its cams 93, will move the supporting portions 99 and 11111 free of the insulator 331i supported thereby, allowing it, in each instance, to drop onto the pins 25. In the present instance, ten thick insulators are fed simultaneously to the pins 25 and the holders 17. The operator then places one of the conductive elements 28 over each pair of pins, adjusts the member 53 relative to the member 52 by the aid of the lever 56 to align the hoppers 4-1 with the loading stations, and operates the levers 74-75 through another feeding cycle to simultaneously feed a thin insulator 29 to each pair of pins 25 to continue the formation of the pile-up on each holder 17.

This operation continues by the addition of the conductive elements 28 in their respective positions, the feeding of the thin insulators and the thick insulators in their respective order until the first portion of the pile-up in each instance is completed. The frames 34 are then located over the pins 25 and the dielectric sleeves 26 and secured in position on the table 1513 by operating the lever to cause the cams 122 to actuate and hold the holddown bar 104 and its resilient strip on the frames.

In a similar manner, the insulators for the final portion of the pile-up are fed simultaneously to the pins 25, followed by the' intermediate placing of the conductive members until the pile-up is ready for the final step, at which time the plate 31 is placed over the pins and located in position. At this time, one of the pins 25 is removed from the pile-up and from its respective dielectric sleeve 26, leaving the other pin in position to hold the various parts of the pile-up against displacement until the mounting screw 22 is disposed in place and driven 'home. The remaining pin, in each instance, is then removed leaving its insulating sleeve 26 in place so that the second mounting screw 22 may be positioned in the pile-up and its threaded end driven in the threaded apertures 21 of the member 19.

If the article is to include a similar set of conductive and dielectric members on another side of the frame 34-, the same series of steps may be followed, the only difference being that when the frame 34 is to be disposed in the fixture for each assembly position or for each holder 17, the previously assembled pile-ups secured thereto will accompany each frame without disturbing the successive steps in presenting conductive and dielectric elements in forming the second series of pile-ups.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A pile-up assembly fixture comprising a frame having vertical members and a horizontal member fixed to certain of the vertical members, a holder having spaced parallel apertures therein mounted at a feeding station on the horizontal member, removable guide pins disposed in the apertures of the holder and having reduced upper ends to enter spaced apertures of insulators of different sizes and spaced apertures of parts of an article to be assembled on the holder, separate hoppers for the insulators of diiferent sizes disposed adjacent a loading station spaced from the holder, a feeding unit supported by the frame for movement between the loading station, where the unit Will receive an insulator from the hopper disposed in the loading station, and the feeding station Where the unit will align the apertures of the insulator carried thereby with the pins and drop the insulator on the pins, means to support the hoppers for movement relative to the loading station, and means actuable to move the hoppers to selectively align the hoppers singly with the loading station so that the insulators thereof may be received singly by the feeding unit and deposited thereby on the pins where they will be guided to the holder.

2. A pile-up assembly fixture according to claim 1 in which the feeding unit has members positioned normally to receive and jointly support an insulator from the hopper aligned with the feeding station, and means actuable when the feeding unit is adjacent the feeding station and the apertures of the insulator are aligned with the pins to cause relative movement of the members to free the insulator to drop onto the holder guided by the pins.

3. A pile-up assembly fixture according to claim 2 in which one of the members of the feeding unit is normally urged into a supporting position, and a cam carried by another of the members and actuable with its member when being moved free of the insulator to force the urged member free of the insulator.

4. A pile-up assembly fixture according to claim 2 in which a pair of the members is urged inwardly toward each other to support one end of the insulator, a single member normally urged outwardly toward the pair of members to support the other end of the insulator, and means to cause relative movement of the members away from each other outwardly simultaneously to free the insulator at the feeding station.

5. A pile-up assembly fixture according to claim 4 in which a stop is mounted adjacent the path of. the unit to terminate movement of the single member short of the feeding position to free its end .of the insulator at the feeding position.

6. A pile-up assembly fixture according to claim 5 in which the single member has cams mounted thereon and positioned to engage the other members when the single member is stopped to force said other members out wardly to free their end of the insulator simultaneously with the freeing of the end of the insulator by the single member.

7. A pile-up assembly fixture according to claim 1 in which portions of the pins intermediate their ends are reduced from upper portions thereof to enter dielectric sleeves and lower portions of the pins are reduced from the inter-mediate portions to removably extend through screw receiving threaded apertures in a first part disposed on the holder and extend into the apertures of the holder,

one of the pins holding the insulators and parts in assembly while the other pin is removed for a mounting screw to extend through the apertures, the sleeve, and the aligned threaded aperture of the first part.

8. A pile-up assembly fixture according to claim 7 in which one of the parts is a frame having a portion with apertures to receive the pins and dielectric sleeves, a support for the frame, and a clamp actuable to removably hold the frame on the support.

9. A pile-up assembly fixture comprising a frame having vertical members and a horizontal member mounted on certain of the vertical members, a plurality of spaced holders mounted on the horizontal member at fixed feeding stations and having groups of apertures therein disposed at predetermined positions relative to each other, pins removably disposed in the apertures of each holder to receive parts of an article to be assembled having similarly spaced apertures therein and insulators of different sizes also having similarly spaced apertures therein, a group of hoppers for each holder mounted in like relative positions adjacent their loading stations to receive piles of insulators of their respectively difierent sizes, feeding units for the insulators of each group of hoppers connected for movement simultaneously, an actuator to move the feeding units simultaneously between the loading stations and the feeding stations to remove insulators from hoppers at the loading stations and transfer them to the feeding stations Where the apertures of the insulators will be aligned with their pins, and means connected to the groups of hoppers and actuable to selectively position like hoppers of the dilferent groups at the loading stations.

10. A pile-up assembly fixture according to claim 9 in References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,819,806 Vieth Jan. 14, 1958 2,841,937 Miskel July 8, 1958 2,865,089 Machian Dec. 23, 1958 

